World-Renowned Texas Cancer Center Reducing Workforce by 1,000

HOUSTON, Texas — The world-renown MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced a workforce reduction by 1,000, the CEO of the center said on Thursday.

The cancer hospital has had $110 million in operating losses from September through November this year, reported the Houston Chronicle.

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Approximately 800 to 900 will be laid off, and the remainder of the five percent planned for staff reductions will occur through attrition and retirements, Dan Fontaine, MD Anderson’s chief financial officer confirmed to the Chronicle. Doctors at the hospital will not be affected by the cuts. In all, the center has about 20,000 workers.

The company was considering staff reductions earlier in December but had to get to the bottom of the center’s finances.

KPRC in Houston reported in December that the institution was facing the issue of how to fund its quality research programs with a decreasing number of patients.

Officials issued an advisory which said MD Anderson’s future financial prospects look solid. Beside a general operating budget, the hospital also receives state funding and makes investment income. It also has a strong charitable gift source. The center has $2.8 billion in cash but is asking employees to make cuts, like for travel.

The local publication reported that the financial problems began in the spring when the hospital implemented a new electronic medical-record system. Doctors and staff members at the center spent a great deal of time getting up to speed in using the program and that took time away from their patients.

During a press conference on Thursday, officials said that the cuts will not affect the care given to patients at the hospital. They said that the choice to cut five percent of its employees was difficult but had to be done.

The website of the center says that it has been “ranked as one of the top two hospitals in cancer care every year since U.S. News & World Report began its annual ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ survey in 1990.”

Lana Shadwick is a writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. She has served as a prosecutor and associate judge in Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2.